Indian video platforms court TikTok users
New Delhi, July 1: The Railways on Wednesday formally kickstarted its plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network by inviting request for qualifications (RFQ) for participation on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains, the national transporter said.
The project would entail a private sector investment of about `30,000 crore, it said.
This is the first initiative for private investment for running passenger trains on the Indian Railways network. It began last year with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) introducing the Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express.
Currently, the IRCTC operates three trains — the Kashi Mahakal Express on the VaranasiIndore route, the Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas. “The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world-class travel experience to passengers,” the Railways said.
The 109 origin-destination routes have been formed into 12 clusters across the Indian Railway network. Each train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches, it said.
The Railways also said that majority of these modern trains are to be manufactured in India as ‘Make in India’ and the private entity shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operating and maintaining the trains.
“Trains shall be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kmph. There would be a substantial reduction in journey time. The running time taken by a train shall be comparable to or faster than the fastest train of the Indian Railways operating in the respective route,” it said.
The concession period for the project shall be 35 years.
After 59 Chinese apps were banned, frustrated Tik Tok addicts are now looking for Indian alternatives. Some of the relatively new Indian apps in the segment claim to have seen an unprecedented demand for downloads.
TikTok, the short video application created by Chinese ByteDance, had around 200 million users in India.
Chingari, a much-touted rival to TikTok, claims to have clocked 5 times growth in downloads. Within a few days, it says the total downloads have moved up from 5.5 lakh to 25 lakh. It further claims that it has seen one lakh downloads per hour after the ban on Chinese apps.
Roposo, which claims to have over 65 million downloads, said that many TikTok users have moved to its platform following the ban. Boxengage.com is another app that has seen a 10x surge in active-user mark within 24 hours after the ban to over one lakh.
According to Harish Bijoor, brand guru and founder of Harish Bijoor Consults, video literacy is the new literacy. “It beats literacy of the written and audio kind hollow. It needs no language and for this very reason, short format video sharing platforms such as TikTok are a hit,’ he said.
There are a few other contenders for the user base of Tik Tok. Bolo Indya with one lakh downloads has reportedly invited Tik Tok users to its platform. The app is available on Google Play Store but not on Apple App store.
Mitron app, which had gained considerable attention post-launch, had later courted some controversies. Reports said its source code, including its full set of features and the user interface, was bought from Pakistani software developer Qboxus. The company had however clarified this issue.
Though not a short form video platform, ShareChat too claims to have witnessed an "exponential growth" in the last two days.
TOKYO, July 1: Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings Corp announced a deal with Dr Reddy’s Laborator-ies and Dubai-based Global Response Aid (GRA) to sell its anti-flu drug Avigan for Covid-19 treatment globally, excluding Japan, China and Russia.
Fujifilm is conducting a clinical study on Avigan to treat Covid-19 patients in Japan and the US and has been seeking to increase the drug’s production by partnering with domestic and overseas firms.
The agreement provides for Fujifilm Toyama Chemical to grant Dr. Reddy’s and GRA the right to develop, make and sell Avigan overseas and get a lumpsum licence fee and royalties on sales.
Fujifilm will allow Dr. Reddy’s to use its production patents and clinical data to study virus patients in India, the Middle East, and other regions.